What Is AI And How Does It Work

AI is a term that’s used to describe a wide range of technologies, but at its core, AI is all about machines that can learn to mimic the skills and the decision-making capabilities of human beings.

Think about those chess playing computers that have been trained so extensively over the years that they can no longer be beaten by pro-level chess players, even grand masters.

How does AI work? Basically, it relies on two basic components: artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Artificial intelligence is a process that involves training computers to learn how to make decisions for themselves. This can be done in a number of ways, but the most common is through machine learning.

Machine learning is a method of teaching computers to learn functional skills from observed data. This data can be anything, from text to images, video and more.

Through training and repetition, the computer learns to recognize patterns in the data and tries to apply these patterns to new situations.

Over time, the computer gets better at making predictions and classifications based on those patterns and thus becomes “skilled.”

When it comes to AI writing assistants specifically, these tools have been trained through reading and analyzing writing patterns from tens of millions of pages of text, some from websites and some from digitized books.

Then, given some basic instructions, the AI tool can generate one or more paragraphs of human-like writing in a matter of seconds.

Examples of given instructions could be something very specific like “write about how to plant cherry tomatoes” or even a broader subject such as “write about the civil war.”

How AI Can Be Used to Personalize Notifications

When it comes to scheduling interviews with recruitment candidates, most appointment tools will offer you the opportunity to send a number of notifications, typically via email, messaging of both.

The first notification will likely be sent to advise the candidate of the interview and offer link access to the booking tool.

The second notification will be sent as a booking confirmation when the candidate has chosen a time slot.

The third one will be sent as a reminder prior to the scheduled appointment.

And the fourth and final one will be sent after the interview, with next steps.

Each notification presents recruiters with the opportunity to build a relationship with the candidate and increase their level of interest and engagement through personalization.

However, if you want to take advantage of this great functionality, you can see how this level of customization can become time consuming very fast, especially if you're dealing with a large pool of candidates for multiple positions and/or employers.

But with the help of AI writing assistants, you’ll be able to create unique personalized notifications for each stage of the booking process at the click of a button.

As you’ll see later on in the article, you could use the AI-generated text as is, mix it with your own text, or simply use the AI content as a writing prompt for inspiration.

In all cases, you’ll be able to dramatically speed up your creative writing process to the point of making it feasible to personalize notifications at scale, even for large recruitment organizations.

The Benefits of Using AI for Notification Personalization

There are a number of benefits to using AI tools to customize your recruitment notifications. Some of the key benefits include:

Increased engagement rates

When you send candidates personalized notifications, you’re more likely to stand out from your competition. This can lead to increased engagement rates and a more successful recruitment process.

More relevant information

By tailoring your message to a specific candidate, you can send messages that are more relevant and appealing to them, increasing your chances of landing the best candidates.

Pre-assessment

By using AI to personalize your notifications, you can fine tune the recruitment process by sending key information to candidates ahead of time and then using their responses as a pre-assessment tool.

Improved candidate experience

By personalizing your notifications, you can create a more positive experience for your candidates, putting them at ease and helping them manage any apprehension about the recruitment process.

How to Get Started with AI-Based Notification Personalization

While there are many AI writing tools on the market, we’re going to use Jasper, one of the first movers in the space, to illustrate how to personalize your notifications at scale.

As stated earlier, there are typically four types of appointment scheduling notifications: an initial invitation email, a booking confirmation email, a reminder for the upcoming meeting and a post-meeting followup email.

For the sake of brevity, we’ll use AI just to personalize the booking confirmation email, as the other types would follow a similar process.

AI-Generated Personalization

To create our custom notification, we’ll first need to provide the AI writing tool with some basic information.

For this example, we’ll supply the main topic of the notification (using the heading Product Name as shown below) as well as the subject line for the email (using the heading Product Description):

Product Name: Apple Computer Interview.

Product Description: Congrats! You have successfully registered for your interview for the position of customer support specialist at Apple Computer.

Now, the AI email creation process follows a two-step process.

The first step is to take in the above information and turn it into a copywriting framework that the AI can then use to develop the foundation for your message.

In this example we’re going to use the AIDA framework, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

Let’s give our AI writing tool a spin:

Perfect. The second step involves taking the above AIDA information and turning it into a warm email addressed to the recruitment candidate.

Let’s run the AI writing tool one more time:

Great! We have now generated a confirmation email in mere seconds that’s personalized to a specific candidate and position.

Finally, you can alter this text to suit your personal preferences or leave it as is (in fact, if you were to send this email as is it’s highly unlikely the recipient would be able to detect the magic hand of AI behind the scenes.)

Tips for Using AI to Create Personalized Notifications

AI writing technology is new and so it’s constantly evolving. So, below you’ll find five useful tips that will help you get the most out of them:

1- Iterate and combine

The beauty of AI writing tools is that they’re designed to generate 100% original content every time. So, instead of running them once or twice, run them multiple times and pick the best text from each iteration.

2- Personalize your notifications based on the candidate's position

Another way to personalize your AI-generated notifications is to tailor them based on the candidate's position. For example, if you’re hiring for a managerial position, you’ll want the AI to know that you’re not hiring for an entry-level position.

By tailoring your AI notifications by role, you can ensure that each candidate receives information that’s relevant for them.

Here’s an example of an email similar to the one generated above but addressed to a management candidate instead.

You’ll notice that the only change in the AI input was a single word: “manager” instead of “specialist,” as shown below:

Product Description: Congrats! You have successfully registered for your interview for the position of customer support manager at Apple Computer.

Let’s run the AI writer one more time with the above input change:

As you can see above, by changing a single word in the input the AI writing tool generated a completely different email notification.

3- Test different types of messages

Another tip is to test different types of messages and see which ones lead to better engagement rates.

Since the AI creation process is so fast, you may want to split your personalized notifications into batches so you can do some A/B testing. This will help you to find the right mix of messages that works best for your recruitment process.

4- Keep track of engagement rates

As a follow-on tip to the one above, keep track of engagement rates so that you can improve your notification personalization over time. By tracking engagement rates, you’ll be able to identify those winning patterns that you can reuse for future campaigns. 

5- Always fact-check your AI generated output

While AI can do a great job at emulating human writers, and therefore save you tons of time, it’s not that good at generating accurate data.

In fact, it’ll often make it up in order to fit the narrative! So, make sure to use any hard data generated by your AI tool just as a placeholder to be replaced with properly curated information later on.

For example, if your AI output says “ABC Ltd. is the second largest employer in the tri-city area” because this makes your email message sound more compelling, make sure to fact check that this is actually true before sending it out.

Wrapping Things Up

Using AI tools to personalize your scheduling notifications at scale in a cost effective way is a game changer that can give you a clear competitive advantage over other recruiters, provided you adopt them early into your workflow.

Also, these tools are constantly getting better, allowing you to leverage their power into other areas of the recruitment process, such as writing offer letters, onboarding communications, orientation information, and so on.

Most AI tools offer free trials or money-back guarantees so you can assess if they fit the needs of your organization before committing.

If you're looking for the best appointment scheduling software for small business, this article is for you. Now, small business owners wear many hats and so they always have a lot on their plates.

Not only do they need to manage the day-to-day tasks of running a business, but they also need to find time for marketing, bookkeeping and other administrative tasks.

Appointment scheduling software can help small business owners like you manage your time more efficiently and ensure that you never miss important appointments.

What is the Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Small Business?

1. Calendly

Calendly is an online scheduling tool that allows users to schedule professional meetings with others without the hassle of back-and-forth emails.

With over 10,000,000 users worldwide, Calendly offers a reliable and efficient way to schedule meetings without wasting time.

All you have to do is create an account, select a meeting time and invite others to schedule with you.

Calendly Features that Stand Out

• Connect up to six calendars per user to check real-time availability
  
• Add Calendly on your website, email, webinar platform, etc. to streamline scheduling
  
• Automate communication before and after meetings with programmable workflows
  
• Poll multiple attendees for their availability to find out the best time for most
  
• Make booking meetings simple for teams who use CRMs
  
• Streamline payments to Calendly events with Stripe or PayPal
  

2. Booknetic

Booknetic is one of the best appointment scheduling WordPress plugins used by small businesses. It allows you total flexibility to manage your appointments, customers, and staff, all in one place.

This plugin is sold through the Envato marketplace, where it has ranked #1 with a 4.98 rating from users for customer support, feature set and ease of use.

You can purchase it for a one-time fee of $79, which gives you lifetime access to future updates and six months of customer support.

Booknetic Features that Stand Out

• Email, SMS, and WhatsApp notifications of booked appointments
• Integration with Zoom for online meetings
  
• Payments can be made online using popular payment gateways, including Paypal and Stripe
• Recurring payments and group appointments
• Unlimited services, employees, and locations
• Coupons and gift cards available
• Waiting List
• Mailchimp integration
• Webhook actions for HTTPHTTPS requests
  

3. Jane

Jane is an online scheduler developed for people who want to run their practice online, including appointment scheduling, invoicing, payment processing and even online video conferencing.

It offers a variety of features and tools to help practitioners streamline their workflow and provide better client care.

Its appointment scheduling system is user-friendly and helps practitioners keep track of their appointments, schedule new appointments, process payments and more.

Jane's invoicing system is simple and easy to use, and it helps practitioners manage their finances and process payments quickly and efficiently.

Jane Features that Stand Out

• Full integration with your clinic’s workflow
• Your patients can create an appointment with a specific practitioner if they have a preference
• Can collect data on a patient's reason for visiting and insurance information prior to arriving
• Your patients can view their upcoming appointments and cancel or reschedule visits
• Offers flexible privacy settings that can be set to your clinic's standards
  

4. 10to8

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Enterprise

10x8 is a cloud-based Appointment Scheduling Software that helps businesses manage their appointments, customers and staff more effectively.

It offers a wide range of features to its users, including the ability to send automated appointment reminders, track customer history and accept online bookings.

If you're looking for a way to improve your business efficiency by streamline your booking processes, then 10x8 is definitely worth checking out.

10to8 Features that Stand Out

• Ability to send SMS, email and even voice call reminders so clients confirm their appointments
• Brand and customize all client communications
  
• You can decide when, how and what can be booked, by setting up booking restrictions and cancellation periods
  
• Take payments online with PayPal or Stripe at the point of booking
  
• Coordinate multiple staff, calendars, rooms and locations seamlessly
  
• Track all changes, notes, payments and history for customers and appointments
  

5. Appointlet

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Small Business

Appointlet makes it easy to find a time that works for everyone, so you can stay focused at work.

With Appointlet, you can search for available times and book meetings without back-and-forth email exchanges.

Plus its responsive user interface makes it easy to use on both web and mobile devices, allowing you to schedule meetings on the go.

Appointlet Features that Stand Out

• Generate a link to your scheduling page so it's easy for people to book a time with you
  
• Use a code snippet to let people schedule time with you directly from your webpage
  
• Create custom intake forms and questionnaires
  
• You can introduce time buffers to prevent meetings from running into each other
  
• Feature your company's logo, name and brand colors on the scheduler
  
• Set up a round robin scheduling flow so that meetings are distributed to members equally
  

6. Appointy

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Managing Staff

Appointy allows businesses to reduce the hours of time they spend on administrative work, manage staff more effectively, get more clients and accept payments.

Whether you're a small startup or an established business, Appointy offers a great solution for automating and streamlining your appointment scheduling process so you can get more out of your time and resources.

Appointy Features that Stand Out

• You can control business hours at both the staff and service levels from a simple interface
  
• Create a tab in your Facebook page that allows your customers to schedule their next appointment
  
• Website widget seamlessly integrates with your existing website so you can accepting appointments directly on your site
• Increase staff productivity by reducing no shows and filling empty time slots
• Allow your customers to prepay either the full, part or a fixed amount when they schedule an appointment
  

7. Cronofy

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Workflow Integration

Cronofy is a leading provider of scheduling solutions for businesses of all sizes. With its suite of tools, Cronofy makes it easy to schedule meetings, appointments and events.

Whether you need to coordinate schedules between a couple of employees or across multiple departments, Cronofy's enterprise-ready tools make it simple to plan and organize your time effectively.

Also, Cronofy's embeddable components and APIs make it easy to integrate scheduling features into your existing workflows and processes.

Cronofy Features that Stand Out

• Set up automation rules for specific scheduling events to save everyone time
  
• Connect all the calendars in your business so everyone has access to their colleague’s availability in real-time
  
• Choose between a single-time use scheduling link for complete privacy or sharing your availability via a public link that can be used by anyone
  
• Link directly with your email provider so you can schedule directly from your emails
  

8. Square Appointments

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Point of Sale Integration

Square Appointments is the perfect solution for business owners who need to manage their time and services more efficiently. It allows you to manage appointments and make payments all in one place.

Since this is a Square product, it is automatically integrated with Square Point of Sale, making it easy to take payments for appointments and services rendered without forcing clients to leave the scheduling platform.

Whether you run a small business or are an independent contractor, Square Appointments is a great tool to help keep your time and appointments organized.

Square Appointments Features that Stand Out

• Choose the scheduler's colors, layout and pages that give the best first impression for your business
  
• Can send automatic appointment reminders to customers via SMS and email
  
• Take secure payments with no hidden fees through the Square Appointments POS system
  
• Build relationships with customers by keeping profiles on file and add notes to capture customer’s special preferences
  
• See all customer communication and activity in one place with Square Messages
  

9. TimeTap

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Customization

TimeTap is a secure, enterprise-ready scheduling software.

Its cloud-based platform ensures that your schedule is always up-to-date and accessible from anywhere.

Features include invoicing, reporting and task management.

TimeTap Features that Stand Out

• Keep track of which clients show up and which ones are no shows and get instant reports on attendance rates
  
• Can customize your client profiles with unlimited fields
  
• Send automated email confirmations and reminders
  
• Choose which staff members can view what clients information to minimize poaching
  

10. Yocale

Best All-in-One Appointment Scheduling Software

Yocale is a one stop shop for all your business needs. It offers online scheduling, CRM, custom forms and virtual video calls, allowing you to run your business from anywhere at any time.

It is fast and easy to use, allowing you to manage your business at a brisk pace without dropping critical communications with your clients.

Yocale Features that Stand Out

• 24/7 online booking with unlimited email/SMS notifications
  
• Unlimited staff profiles and client profiles (status, history, and payments)
  
• Client notifications and reminders, including rebooking reminders
• Email marketing
  
• Client app for booking appointments
  

11. Your Can Book Me

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Teams

With You can book me, you can connect with your calendar and only share the times you want with your customers.

You can even sync You can book me with popular calendar services like Google and Apple so that your appointments always stay up-to-date.

You can book me makes it easy to keep your schedule organized and accessible whether you're a small practice or a large team of professionals.

You Can Book Me Features that Stand Out

• Flexible schedule and availability
  
• Create custom availability with 'On Duty'
  
• Offer tentative bookings and multiple bookings per time slot
  
• Password protect your booking page
  
• Manage availability of your entire team

12. Doodle

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Individuals

Doodle takes all the hassle out of coordinating schedules, so you can focus on the task at hand.

A unique Doodle feature is the ability to create a poll with all the pertinent event information (date, time, location, etc.), and then get availability responses from all of your invitees in minutes.

Doodle Features that Stand Out

• Share your availability with a link
  
• Suggest times and let participants book what works for them
  
• Build Doodle right into your workflow through its multiple integrations
  
• Group polls let you send people a set of times and see which one works best for your event
  

13. Chilly Piper

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Sales Reps

Chilly Piper is a scheduling system designed for sales teams. It allows sales reps to increase their selling time by automating the process of qualifying, routing and booking appointments.

It's easy to use and it can be customized to meet the needs of your business through its advanced features and intuitive user interface.

Chilli Piper Features that Stand Out

• Auto-sync all meeting details, follow-ups, and records to your CRM in real time
  
• Create routing rules based on how you structure your sales team
• Include smart booking links in emails to allow for one-click booking from marketing campaigns
  

14. Setmore

Best Free Appointment Scheduling Software

Setmore is a free online scheduling software that helps you manage your appointments, bookings and reservations.

It can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, so you can keep your schedule updated from anywhere.

Setmore can organize your entire scheduling operation with 24/7 automated online booking, reminders and payments.

Setmore Features that Stand Out

• Customize your Booking Page's URL and showcase your top reviews
• Send personalized email or text reminders to every customer
• Add 1-click Zoom or Teleport video meeting links to your appointments
• Accept payments securely online
• Add your logo, branding and Instagram feed
  

15. HoneyBook

Best Appointment Scheduling Software for Project Management

HoneyBook is more than just scheduling software. It can also take care of sending invoices, tracking payments and handling contracts, among other business tasks.

With its intuitive interface, HoneyBook is a great solution if you're looking to augment your event scheduling tasks with project management features.

HoneyBook Features that Stand Out

• End-to-end project tracking
• Do your invoicing, contracts and payments from one tool
• Integrate with Zoom, Quickbooks, Zapier, Gmail, and Google Calendar
• Free forever account with all features
  

What are the benefits of appointment scheduling software for small businesses?

For small businesses, scheduling software can be a valuable tool for managing customer appointments semi-automatically.

By using an appointment scheduling system, businesses can keep track of their customers' appointments and ensure that they are able to meet their needs by pre-selecting available time slots through an online calendar.

Appointment scheduling software can also help businesses automate appointment reminders and follow-ups, which can save time and improve customer satisfaction.

In addition to the benefits mentioned above, businesses may also find that using an appointment scheduling system can help them to manage their resources more efficiently and allow them to provide a higher level of service to their customers.

How to choose the best appointment scheduling software for your business?

When choosing the best appointment scheduling software for your business, you'll need to consider a few factors.

First, you'll need to decide which features are most important to you. Some appointment scheduling software offers basic features like online booking and automated reminders, while others offer more advanced features like customer management tools and integrations with payment systems.

Second, you'll need to decide how much you're willing to spend. Most appointment scheduling software pricing starts for free or several dollars per month, but can go up dramatically depending on the features offered and the number of users required.

Finally, you'll need to make sure the software is compatible with all your devices and operating systems in addition to your website, and that it can be synchronized across all platforms seamlessly.

What to Do Next

Scheduling software can help small business owners in just about any industry manage their time more efficiently, including appointment automation, managing employees' time schedules, and much more.

On the above list, you'll find many different types of appointment scheduling software programs, each with their unique features and benefits.

The best way to assess if they're a good fit for your organization is to give them a try. Most of the above tools offer either free trials or a money back guarantee.